Lincoln Place To Bring Needed Offices Parking To Miami Beach

By Marilyn Bowden Groundwork has just begun on Lincoln Place, a mixed-use project that will add needed office space and parking to Miami Beach’s bursting business district.

The eight-story building, designed by Loews Hotel architect Nichols Brosch Sandoval, will have 110,000 square feet of class A office space and 30,000 square feet of retail, he said, as well as 600 parking spaces.

The project came about in response to a request for proposals issued by the City of Miami Beach for development on city-owned parking lots that would address the area’s critical parking shortage.

The two public-private partnerships that resulted from that request  Lincoln Place and The Lincoln, under development by Scott Robins Cos. on 17th Street at Michigan and Jefferson  both combine office, retail and parking.

According to a mid-year market report from Grubb & Ellis, overall office vacancy in Miami Beach is at 6.6%.

Assistant City Manager Cristina Cuervo said the site is strategically located in the middle of a redevelopment district.

"We’re looking forward to seeing it come online," she said. "It will help sustain the area’s retail business and cement 16th Street as a prime pedestrian corridor."

"This is ground zero, the heart of the city," developer Michael Comras said Tuesday. "The City of Miami Beach has worked to get it redeveloped. Loews provided the hotel component. The concept of adding class-A office space as well as parking was to my mind a very urban solution."

Mr. Comras said he assembled two other parcels adjacent to the city-owned parking lot for the project  a labor that took about three years. The official groundbreaking for the project will be tonight (10/12) at the site at 1601 Washington Ave., just across from the Loews Miami Beach Hotel.

"It’s very difficult to assemble a site of this size in a historic district," he said. "The barriers are great. But if you can endure, you have the chance to do something spectacular."

Average lease rates at Lincoln Place are quoted at $29-$33 a square foot for office space and $38-$42 for retail.

William H. Holly, managing director of Insignia-ESG and leasing agent for the office component, said lead tenant LNR, the commercial division of Lennar Homes, will occupy 62,500 square feet.

"We are in final negotiations for a full floor of 10,000 square feet," he said, "which will put us at 65% pre-leased. That’s very nice considering we’re just breaking ground and there are three or four other new projects in the area."

The project’s built-in parking garage, giving tenants access to more parking than any existing office building in South Beach, is "a huge advantage" in attracting tenants, Mr. Holly said.

Fortune 500 companies as well as entertainment and financial service firms  industries that have shown an affinity for Miami Beach offices in recent years  are being courted as tenants, he said.

Mr. Comras, who is handling leasing of the retail space, said he hopes to attract a restaurant to the corner spot that will cater to the office tenants.

He said he’s looking for retail tenants who will service both the building’s tenant base and Lincoln Road’s tourists. Details: (305) 715-2828, office, or 532-0433, retail.